3 men get prison in failed Ohio bomb plot

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AKRON, Ohio — Three men were sentenced Tuesday to years in prison after admitting they took part in an unsuccessful plot to bomb a highway bridge in Ohio with what turned out to be a dud device provided by a government informant.

The father of one of the defendants, 20-year-old Connor Stevens, complained to the judge that his son had been entrapped.

‘‘My son is guilty,’’ James Stevens said, ‘‘and so is the government.’’

Prosecutors had described the suspects as self-proclaimed anarchists who acted out of anger against corporate America and the government.

All three defendants — Stevens, 26-year-old Douglas Wright, and 20-year-old Brandon Baxter — apologized in court. Their attorneys said the sentences would be appealed.

Wright, an Indianapolis man authorities called the ringleader, received the toughest sentence, 11½ years. He apologized to his family and the community, saying he was an addict and needed help for substance abuse, not just prison.

Baxter, of Lakewood in suburban Cleveland, was given nearly 10 years in prison. Stevens, of Berea, the least involved of the trio, was sentenced to more than eight years.

US District Judge David Dowd ruled last week that the men should be sentenced as terrorists, making them subject to harsher prison terms.

A fourth defendant is being sentenced Wednesday, and a fifth is undergoing a psychiatric exam.